


The Girl With One Eye

by Labor_of_Love



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Jane Foster Doesn't Exist, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27622195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Labor_of_Love/pseuds/Labor_of_Love
Summary: Soulmate AU - Persephone Evans never understood her soulmark, and after life had given her the biggest possible smack to the face (or eye), she stopped trying to find "the one". But fate is a funny thing, and the mysterious man she meets in New Mexico is only the beginning. Loki/OC/Vision
Relationships: Loki/Original Female Character(s), Loki/Original Female Character(s)/Vision, Vision/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

**Puente Antiguo, New Mexico**

Persephone Evans strolled into the diner and was greeted by a friendly waitress. The 25-year-old was starved after spending the waking hours unpacking her luggage into her rental apartment and didn't have the heart to cook despite going grocery shopping.

"Table for one, hun?" She nodded her head and was ushered to follow the woman to a nearby table for four, who kindly pulled out the chair for her to sit. She muttered an awkward thank you. "Let me get you some water.

Left to her own devices, she began to flip through the menu with one hand while absentmindedly fiddling with and poking the eyepatch on the right side of her face. It was definitely hot in New Mexico, and the added bit of cloth on her face was more uncomfortable than anticipated. She had gotten a fair bit of strange glances as she had gotten in and out of her car, most people probably didn't even consider that it was possible to drive with only one eye.

She wanted to rip the damn eyepatch off her face.

"My word, Dr. Evans?" She looked up from the menu to see an elderly plump man in khakis and a button down shirt and a young brunette woman who looked rather bored. The man was smiling at her with admiration and stuck out his right hand, which she hesitantly shook.

"Dr. Erik Selvig, and this is one of my students, Darcy. I'm a huge fan of your work with Dr. Warren on the neuron equation of the retina."

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Selvig, Darcy. But actually I never got my doctorate, so I'm just a Miss." Wanting to be polite, she motioned to the empty seats at her table. "Would you like to join me?"

The two sat down and were handed menus by the waitress when she circled back around. Percy was trying to decide between eggs and pancakes while half listening as Selvig gushed to Darcy about who she was, the brunette's eyes widened in recognition and her indifferent expression morphed into a toothy grin.

"Woah, so you're that chick with the robot eye?" She asked with awe, before bobbing her head up and down with a smug smile "Awesome."

"Darcy!"

"No, it's fine. I get that a lot." Percy waved her hand as if it were no big deal. Darcy was right, after all.

Her right eye was straight up robotic, through years of hard work and mind grueling research in her college years she was able to work with a brilliant neurobiologist to develop the first functional artificial eye. Sometimes she wanted to forget all about that, all the strange looks that followed her when she walked down the street.

Sometimes she wanted to just be eyepatch girl, she could say from personal experience that no one ever really wanted to talk to eyepatch girl.

"Ready to order?"

* * *

"So, is your left eye the robot one and you're getting surgery to replace the other one to get full future vision?" Darcy asked while chewing on overly-salty diner fries.

"No..." She chuckled awkwardly at the innocence of the question. "My bionic eye doesn't look as... _natural_

as my real one and sometimes it freaks people out, especially in small towns like this."

"So what brings a nobel prize winning engineer to New Mexico?" Selvig questioned while Percy was mid-bite into a piece of toast. She quickly swallowed and forced the food down with a sip of coffee.

"I make military radios. Boring, I know, but it pays the bills and then some. The company I work for is short staffed at the moment so I have the _honor_ of implementing the test procedures for some... devices not too far from here."

"Seems like a downgrade from the medical manufacturing realm, in my opinion." She chuckled at that remark, he certainly wasn't wrong. Her work was basically the equivalent of a 9 to 5 desk job with a bit more travel.

"You have me at a disadvantage, Dr. Selvig. What sort of work do you do?"

"I'm an astrophysicist, currently I'm working on the research left behind by a former colleague of mine. He documented seventeen magnificent anomalies in his time, and through his notes I was able to decipher the star charts to determine where the next one will occur."

"What sort of anomalies? Giant holes of darkness?"

"Not quite, I haven't seen them for myself yet but from his notes he always described them as breathtakingly beautiful... like miniature auroras."

"Sounds great..." Just from the simple conversation between the three of them, it all came as a great awakening for Percy.

She was lonely, _painfully_ lonely.

She couldn't even remember the last time she had shared a meal besides someone other than a co-worker that talked about nothing beyond work.

Seeing the glimmer in Selvig's eye as he explained the notes left by his colleague woke something within her heart, the curiosity and excitement the older man showed made her envious.

"By any chance, would you need any help recording the anomalies?" Glancing around to see that no one was looking their way, Percy lifted her eyepatch slightly to reveal her mechanical eye, which just so happened to be a wonderful camera and heat sensor.

"Oh, sick! Erik she should totally come help us out!" Darcy slammed her hands down on the table, alerting the other nearby patrons. "She's really smart so she can help you with all the sciency stuff, and I'll finally have someone my own age around! It's a win-win!"

And so she ended up in the middle of the desert with two total strangers.


	2. It's Raining Man

"So, you marked?" The two women were leisurely laying on a couple of lawn chairs by the side of the road, glancing at the sky through binoculars when Darcy popped the question, her partner snorting in response.

"Do you ask that to everyone you meet?" Darcy pretended to think for a minute with a slight frown before bobbing her head up and down casually.

"Yeah, pretty much." They looked at each other and laughed. Darcy started to wiggle her eyebrows suggestively, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours~"

Percy turned around to look at the RV parked behind them and saw no sign of Selvig, who had disappeared a while ago in an attempt to redo his calculations since the anomaly had not yet appeared. She turned back to Darcy with a smile and jutted her chin forward, egging her on.

"Alright then, strip."

Darcy removed the binoculars from around her neck and started to undo the top buttons on the flannel she was wearing, stopping around her chest. Pulling the fabric to her left side, she revealed the words that were scrawled above her bra.

 _Am I in the right place for the internship?_ Was written in a very neat and crisp handwriting that was definitively masculine.

"Awwww, that's so sweet, it's right above your heart!" Percy cooed, and Darcy stuck her tongue out in childish anger before re-buttoning her shirt. Percy smiled at her with a sad and knowing look. "So that's why you applied for this, huh?"

"Whatcha mean?" Darcy asked, avoiding eye contact.

"I bet you've applied to _loaaads_ of internships and research opportunities because you hope he'll be there one day." She could have sworn she saw Darcy blush, but it was too dark to be sure.

"I guess you're pretty smart for a fancy science lady." Darcy teased. "Now show me yours!"

"Alright, alright!" She said defensively. A nervous blush creeped from her neck, as she had never shown it to anyone before. Perhaps it was Darcy's brazenness, or how her childlike smile reminded Percy of her younger sister, but she felt like she could trust her. "I'm warning you, it doesn't make any sense."

She rolled up the right leg of her sweatpants past her knee, the skin not taking kindly to the cold wind that greeted it. She contorted her body so that the long and confusing ramble etched to the back of her knee was on full display. 

_Gambling with your pitiful life and this is the best weapon you could procure? Truly pathetic._

The refined cursive could easily rival a computer font, only further adding to the air of mystery concerning her 'other half'. Soulmarks usually manifested themselves each person matured and the universe decided that people were best suited for one another. They also were never a guarantee, within the past century studies had estimated that one in five people never developed a bond at all. 

But far less were _born with them_ , as she had been.

"Geez you weren't kidding..." After she had read the whole thing, Darcy was trying to hold back a bout of giggles, and failing miserably. "Seriously, who the fuck talks like that?"

"Hell if I know, and trust me I've tried it all, community theater, Ren fairs, creative writing classes, D&D sessions..." She counted all her past hobbies on her fingers before throwing her hands dramatically in the air. "And nothing, nada, zilch!"

Looking back, she hated that period of her life. All of those things, they weren't her. She wasn't sociable enough and never clicked with any of the extroverted people she met.

Secretly she had hoped that her mate's mark said something equally ridiculous and he was exactly like her, they would be auditioning for some crappy play together, laugh, and move on with their lives. But as it was, her best bet would be some eccentric street performer or some form of LARPer. She had come to terms with that, and saved money whenever she could so she could be supportive of her soulmate's interests without having to worry about his income.

"I stopped looking after, _this..._ " She gestured to her eye, "happened."

The recovery process after her accident had been a cruel mistress. Not only had her eye been damaged beyond repair but severe bruising and pulsating pain had been present on the right half of her face for months afterward. She couldn't push herself to pretend to enjoy acting anymore or any of the other clubs she joined in hopes to finding her other half. She decided then and there that she would leave it up to fate.

"I still think it's cool, you look like you'd be... I dunno, Iron Man's sidekick or something who blasts stuff from her laser eye."

"It's not a laser, Darcy."

"Or is that just what you _want_ me to think?" The girls shared another round of banter until Selvig finally emerged from the RV, notes and machines to detect atmospheric pressure in hand.

"This is strange... all the previous encounters were predictable down to the second."

"Maybe there's a lurking variable you've overlooked?" Percy approached Selvig from behind, taking the notebook out of his hands. This stuff was a bit out of her realm, after all she was a mechanical engineer, not a physicist, but she wanted to at least try and be helpful. Her pointer finger followed the erratic flow of calculations that were spread out across the pages but there didn't seem to be any obvious error that screamed out to her.

"Well if there was, I wouldn't know it would I?" He said, almost defeatist. She could empathize, she knew the feeling of failure all too well. "These atmospheric disturbances are exactly in line for what we would be expecting, what am I missing?"

"Um, you guys?" Darcy said meekly, the two turned around to see the massive storm in the distance. Percy gawked, but quickly pressed the record button on her bracelet so that they could look at the footage later. Swirling clouds refracted against each other as if they were all illuminated by a rainbow light as they all churned up above. How was it all possible? The sky had been clear just a few minutes ago.

"Any chance that's your anomaly, Dr. Selvig?" She turned her head only to watch as the man fumbled over his own two feet to rush into the RV, Darcy hot on his heels with the poorly deconstructed armchairs tucked under her arms. Selvig fumbled with the dials and switches on the low-grade measurement equipment that was rigged in the back of the RV. 

"We have to be within a mile radius of the event to gather a decent magnetic reading!"

"On it, buckle up!" Percy sprung into action, clicking her own seatbelt into place before putting the vehicle into drive and hitting the gas. She tried to keep her sights on the storm, and it wasn't very hard. Selvig hadn't been lying when he had implied it would be beautiful. Ribbons of color pulsated through the inky darkness of the unpolluted night sky, twisting and shifting into forms that Percy was not even able to comprehend. 

It was as if she was looking through a gate to heaven, into the eyes of God itself. 

"You can't be seriously driving _towards_ it!" Darcy screamed at her while clinging to the dashboard. 

"Come on, you're twenty, right? Where's your sense of _just fuck it?!_ " A swirling tornado of flashing colors and dark storm clouds seemed to grow and grow, and lightening struck next to the RV as they were closing in distance.

"Forget this! I'm not dying for six credits!" In that instant Darcy grabbed the wheel of the vehicle in an attempt to turn them around. The moment startled Percy who instinctively grabbed the wheel tighter to steer them back in their original direction, her foot acting a second too slow in pushing the brakes.

She didn't even register herself scream as the van collided with a very _solid_ object.

"I think legally that was your fault." Darcy whispered, the two of them frozen in shock after feeling the collision. Within moments the three of them ran out, a body lay unmoving a couple of yards away. Percy ran up, getting down on her knees next to the man.

"Do you have a first aid kit in there?!" Selvig nodded frantically and ran back to the RV to retrieve it. "Sir, are you breathing?" He didn't respond. Percy grabbed his wrist and tried to feel a pulse point, but couldn't seem to find it. She pulled her hair to the side and lowered her ear and positioned it above the man's mouth. As his hot breath lightly fanned across her cheek, she let out a sigh of relief. 

"Wow. Does he need CPR? Because I know CPR." Darcy shined her miniature flashlight on the mystery man, and there was no denying he was the definition of handsome. His long blonde hair and stubbly beard gave off a sort of lumberjack vibe, and he definitely had the muscles for it.

Percy actually felt a blush creeping up to her cheeks, thinking about how her face had been so close to his. She personally had a weakness for guys with long hair, something she didn't see very often. Her right knee started to tingle with a warm sensation, she had probably sprained herself slamming the brake.

She had to focus, handsome or not, she had just _hit this man with an RV._

"He needs a hospital, he probably broke some bones with a hit like that." She fretted, visually scanning his body for any obvious injuries. With a grimace, the man finally opened his eyes. His pupils constricted to pinpricks at the harsh brightness of the flashlight and looked around wildly until his gaze settled on Percy's face. She watched carefully as he came to his senses, his look of intrigue morphing into one of indifference as he pushed himself off the ground as if nothing had happened. 

"Do you have x-ray vision too?!" Darcy asked enthusiastically and Percy rolled her eyes. They watched as he began stumbling around in a circle, scanning the terrain with a confused look on his face.

"Hammer... Hammer!" He yelled at the sky, the two women looked at each other in shock and confusion.

"Yeah, we can tell you're hammered." Darcy responded, figuring him to be drunk. Percy was more worried that he might have a concussion, she picked up the first aid kit Selvig had left on the ground and noticed something strange.

"Dr. Selvig..." A faint, discernible pattern is etched into the sand. She presses a button on her bracelet. "I've recorded the patterns for you, but you'll have to act quickly if you want soil samples. The hospital's over an hour away, so I can take him in my car."

"Father! Heimdall! I know you can hear me! Open the Bifrost!" He yelled at the sky before pointing at Selvig, "You! What world is this? Alfheim? Nornheim?"

"Puente Antiguo, New Mexico." Percy said slowly, raising her hands up as a submissive and nonthreatening gesture and slowly took a few steps closer to him. "Sir, I can help you. I just need you to calm down."

Darcy, on the other hand, had taken an aggressive approach. A small red dot could be seen on the man's gray shirt as she aimed the taser at him.

"You dare threaten Thor with so puny -" She pulled the trigger, the 6'3" man was now writhing in pain on the ground from the electric shock before passing out.

"Darcy!" 

"What? He was freaking me out."

"I'll go get my car." She eyed the large muscular man and then Darcy's discharged taser. "Mind if I take that? Just in case he wakes up?"

"Do you want this or mace?" From her bag she pulled out a hot pink bottle with a cation logo on the side and shook it to signify its full contents. Percy gave her a surprised look, god help any boy who tried to pressure Darcy into anything.

"Mace, please." After pocketing the weapon she removed her bracelet and handed it to Selvig. "The photos and recordings I took on the event are on this, it opens up as a flashdrive. I think there's a 24 hour Walmart you could develop them at if you're in a crunch."

In the distance she could see her faded blue buggy parked to the side of the road where she had left it and did a half-jog to close the distance. Getting in the driver's seat she carefully backed up the car so that Thor was next to the passenger's side. It took the effort of all three of them to lift the tree of a man into the seat, after he was shoved in his head quickly dropped downward and hit the dashboard with an audible thump. Percy cringed at the sound and prayed to god he would survive the trip.

"You know, the way he talks is _super_ weird." Darcy whispered to Percy and nudged her in the rib.

"Don't." She warned.

"Come on! I wouldn't mind taking a slice of that, and he didn't _sayyyy_ anything to you... not yet."

"Stop it, Darcy." She said more seriously and climbed into the drivers seat, slamming the car door in a bit of frustration. The drive to the hospital was silent, she didn't have the heart to turn on the radio like usual, and definitely didn't want to risk waking up her passenger. Her eyes left the road and looked at Thor, who was jostling with every small bump in the car, his heavy head swaying uncontrollably.

"Don't be ridiculous..." Percy muttered to herself, this whole thing was too weird, no way he was her soulmate. But she couldn't deny the warmth she felt in her right leg, the most sensation she had ever felt from her mark.

* * *

"Name?" The nurse at the front desk asked curtly.

"Th- eeeodore." She quickly recovered, refusing to repeat the ridiculous name he said. "Theodore Evans, he's my brother." The nurse gave her a skeptical look and glanced over at her underwhelming frame, black hair and brown eyes that resembled nothing like the self proclaimed god. "Adopted."

"I'm going to need your information as an emergency contact." Percy fished out her wallet and handed the older woman a business card with her name and number. After reading the card the nurse looked back at the young woman with a raised eyebrow, and quickly focused her attention to her right eye. "I'm going to need you to cover... _that_ , for patient confidentiality."

"Oh, I'm not recording anything."

"Still, you could." 

"So can anyone with a cellphone-" Loud crashing sounds came from the next room cut off her argument. Percy and the nurse at the front desk watched as nearly a dozen nurses and two security guards swarmed to the scene.

"HOW DARE YOU ATTACK THE SON OF ODIN!" The two women rounded the corner and through the glass window witnessed as Thor fought against the medical staff, knocking some of them out cold until he was finally sedated.

The nurse turned to Percy with crossed arms, obviously fuming from the destruction.

"I'll, uh... just cover this up. Sorry for the trouble." She pulled out the white piece of cloth from her pocket and looped the straps behind her ears, half smiling at the nurse as a peace offering.

Percy was escorted to the waiting area and stared at the late night television broadcast, not very interested in the news. She wasn't cut out for this sort of excitement, and felt like she was on the verge of a panic attack with everything that was going on. What if the guy had actually just been drunk? What if he wanted to press charges against her? So much had happened in one night and she still had to oversee the weapons testing tomorrow morning.

She closed her eyes and started to take deep breaths, inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. She forced her short fingernails into the skin of her palm, focusing on the feeling, isolating her thoughts. She opened her eyes again, looking to her left at the generic flower paintings it seemed every hospital had and the pile of magazines from a couple months ago piled on the nearby coffee table.

"Ms. Evans?" A male nurse called her name and ushered her to follow him.

"How is he?"

"He's sedated right now, and very well... secured." Thor was the only patient in the room, his arms and legs were tied down with restraints. "From the way he threw around our staff I'm pretty sure he doesn't have any major injuries, despite in the head that is."

"Is it alright if I wait here until he wakes up?" She gestured to the chair next to Thor's bed and the nurse shrugged.

"Might be a while."

_Great._

Just then, her cellphone started to ring and the nurse took that as his sign to leave. Fumbling for her back pocket, the caller ID read _Darcy_ , the two of them had exchanged numbers only earlier that day. Percy stepped away from Thor as much as she could, still worried about waking him up and picked up the call.

"Hello?"

"Persephone, you won't believe what we found in your footage!" It was Selvig, and he certainly sounded ecstatic.

"That dude _literally_ like, fell from the sky!" Darcy screamed from the background, confusing Percy before Selvig cut back in.

"He was in the middle of the anomaly, and beyond that the constellations in your video are unrecognizable! It's almost as if they aren't ours!"

"What do you mean?" Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she looked over her shoulder at the sleeping figure in the hospital bed.

"We could be looking at an honest to god black hole here! And that man could be the closest thing we have to evidence." They saw him fall from the sky, with her own footage? It didn't seem possible... yet she must have seen it herself. If this man was the key to explaining Selvig's studies, she didn't want to let him go before the astrophysicist got to ask him a few questions. And for the sake of her own curiosity as well, she felt like she couldn't leave him alone.

"I'll let you know when he wakes up, I guess." Selvig expressed his thanks and droned on about how the soil samples would be tested by the end of the week and praised her for all of the footage she took.

It was definitely a good feeling, being helpful that is. She checked the time on her phone, _10:13._ All the adrenaline she had produced from all the excitement had started to wear off, she slumped down into the hard plastic chair next to Thor's bedside. She could do this. Stay up until he was awake, get him discharged by morning, quick change from her rental apartment and drive straight to the testing site for work... it was only about an hour drive away.

_Gambling with your pitiful life and this is the best weapon you could procure? Truly pathetic._

Her mind automatically went to the mace in her pocket, stroking it with her hand to make sure it was still there. Was she crazy? She wasn't going to pull mace on him! Darcy had just gotten into her head a little bit with false hope, once he woke up and said literally any other sentence, she would be fine. But she couldn't help but wonder...

Hesitantly, she grasped his large hand with her two smaller ones and bent down to whisper in his ear.

"If it is you... I already love you, and I'll never leave your side no matter what."

* * *

**Asgard**

_This is a fool's game he was playing at..._

He should have turned around, retired to his chambers instead of stealing away to the relic room. Yet every time he closed his eyes he could _feel_ it, the frost... the cold... his lithe fingers slowly wrapped themselves around the Casket of Ancient Winters. 

That same pinprick of cold threatened to envelope him, his heart sinking as he realized that it all felt so _right_.

"Stop!" Odin's voice echoed against the hallowed hall, Loki kept his back toward him. He stared at his own hands in disbelief as he held the casket.

"Am I cursed?" 

"No." 

"What am I?"

"You are my son."

"What more than that." Loki released the casket and turned around, the blue skin that shocked him bleeding away into his familiar pale hue. "The casket wasn't the only thing you took from Jotunheim that day, was it?"

Odin hesitated, leaning on his staff a bit more for support of his emotional burden.

"No. In the aftermath of the battle, I went into the temple and found a baby - small for a giant's offspring, suffering and left to die. Laufey's son."

"Laufey's son..." He desperately struggles to make sense of it all, shaking his head in disbelief. "But... Frost Giants don't have soulmates!"

"None that do live to tell." It felt like another slap to the face, not only was he Jotun... but he was a runt. An incomplete runt who was set on a freezing wasteland to die, unwanted, worthless. No doubt Odin had used his mark to add to the lie of him being Asgardian.

"Why? Why would you take me?"

"You were an innocent child."

"No, you took me for a purpose, what was it?" Odin doesn't answer.

"Tell me!"

"I thought we could unite our kingdoms one day, though you. Bring about an alliance, a permanent peace... perhaps even reach beyond our two realms with your bonded. But those plans no longer matter."

Those plans no longer mattered... because of Thor. That oaf that had barged into Jotunheim and disrupted the peace treaty between the two realms had unknowingly taken the sole purpose of Loki's life and smashed it without hesitation. He had taken away the only use Odin had for a Frost Giant son.

How typical of his _brother._

"So I am no more than another stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of me."

"Why do you twist my words?"

"You know, it all makes sense now. Why you favored Thor all these years. Because no matter how much you claim to 'love' me, you could never have a Frost Giant, the monster parents use to scare their children at night, on the throne of Asgard with his mortal wife!"

"Loki -" The emotional and physical burden from the recent battles finally took its toll on Odin. No longer able to stand, his form crumbled beneath Loki's feet, his hand reaching out to hold his youngest son who had withdrawn. It was only as he fell into the Odinsleep that Loki recognized the severity of his conditions and called for the guards, who came rushing in at once to aid the Allfather.

As quickly as they entered the guards left with the Allfather, no doubt to his own chambers to recover his strength, leaving Loki alone once more in the dungeon. He looked to the casket once more, feeling a sense of shame weigh heavy on his heart. If _they_ were to ever find out the truth of who he was, or rather _what_ , they would surely never love him.


	3. An Almost Pleasant Breakfast

Thor slowly opened his eyes, squinting and blinking away the bright florescent lights above him. His entire body ached and felt heavy as stone, a sensation that he was only familiar with on the most fearsome of battlefields. It astounded him how weak his new mortal form was, he would have to regain his energy before picking another battle. His attempt to lift his arms was thwarted by a tight pressure, and in his bleary haze observed that his wrists and ankles were now bound by leather straps to the metal frame of the unfamiliar bed.

It was humiliating, not only had these beings bested him twice with their weaponry but now they stood to imprison him here, wherever _here_ was. He jerked his head backward to flip back the hair that had landed in front of his eyes and looked around to make sense of his surroundings. It was then that he finally noticed the small figure that sat by his bedside.

The young woman's arms were crossed over her chest which rhythmically rose up and down with each even breath. Her head was leaned forward in a slack position that did not appear comfortable, curly dark hair cascading down to partially cover her face. Thor strained his neck forward to peer at her, now recognizing her as the first face he had seen upon his unceremonious landing from the Bifrost. 

A warm feeling surged through him as he looked at her slumbering face, she was a stranger yet a part of him felt a familiarity. From what he recalled, she was not wearing the eyepatch before. Had he unknowingly harmed her?

He gathered strength into his left arm, giving the leather band an experimental tug. It didn't budge. He took a deep breath and concentrated his strength once more, all but heaving his body to the side until his arm finally broke free and the band snapped in half. Unfortunately, the sound had been enough to wake the young woman, whose head jerked up almost painfully fast and looked at him in surprise.

"You're up!" She seemed relieved for a moment, before noticing that his arm was now free from the restraint, a harsh red line evident against the skin of his wrist. In a matter of seconds her caring demeanor turned to that of panicked rage. "Hey, will you quit messing with the hospital equipment? You broke enough last night."

"The barbarians attacked me, what would you have me do, woman?" He curtly replied and proceeded to use his free hand to undo the latch that was holding his second one down. If he had been looking at her, he would have seen the crestfallen look on her face at the realization that his words had not even resembled those on her leg.

She felt like an idiot for being disappointed, was she really at that point in her life when she was hoping that this lunatic was actually her other half? Her small heartache was quickly turned into annoyance when he had called _woman_ in such a demeaning tone, whoever this mystery man was, he sure was rude.

"Okay..." She drew out the word in a condescending manner as she watch him free his own ankles from the hospital bed. "We're just trying to help you, you could've been seriously hurt."

"They should have given me a healing stone and been done with it!" He shot back and once freed all but jumped out of the bed and made his way towards the exit, not giving her a second look as he stormed off. Percy shot out of the chair and gathered her things, quickly catching up behind him.

"And just where are you gonna go, genius?"

"Away from here," He spoke while still in full stride, his gaze intaking the strange surroundings. "I will find Mjolnir and travel through the Bifrost back to Asgard."

"Bifrost...?" Her tone was laced with skepticism and confusion. Of all the words he had just said, that was the only one that felt the most comfortable on her tongue. "Is that how you ended up in the middle of the desert?"

"You ask many questions." Somehow the two of them were able to make it all the way to the hospital lobby without being noticed or stopped, there were no receptionists or other employees in sight. Only the low hum of the lights overhead offered any noise beyond their bickering.

"Well it would help a very nice man if you gave him some answers!" He spared her a glance over his shoulder and scoffed, he had better things to do than entertain mortals. "Hey!" She shouted and ran to catch up with his staggering form again and slapped him very sharply on the arm. It had felt like the equivalent of punching a rock, the back of her hand stinging and turning a bright pink from the contact of his massive bicep, and although it was not enough to hurt him, he did give pause.

He stopped walking and turned around slowly to face her. Tilting her head up she jutted her bottom lip out in a half pout half scowl and narrowed her glare in a serious manner. Thor look a step closer to her, intimidating the smaller woman with his form -- but she only straightened her shoulders and stood up even straighter, not backing down. He almost admired her ferocity.

"A few hours, tops." He raised an eyebrow and looked at her more closely. Her cheeks were flushed and her hands were slightly shaking, very far from the signs of any sort of warrior. Yet despite those shortcomings it was hard to deny the determination in her eye, with her very stare he felt like a child being scolded by their mother, it was hard to resist. That - and this mortal form of his was growing weak, and what being was there better to understand the necessities of caring for such a feeble body?

His serious expression melted away to a charming smile as he took one of his large hands and slightly ruffled her unkempt hair.

"Very well, little one."

Thor took a step to the side of the door and motioned for her to lead the way. Percy took a moment to straighten herself out, not really expecting for him to give in so easily. She plastered on a determined face and led both of them to the parking lot, pressing the button on her set of keys that briefly lit up the headlights and gave off a short blimping noise as the doors unlocked. She looked over her shoulder to see that he was actually following her while taking in the strange scenery around him.

"So, what's your name?" Percy asked as she opened the passenger side door for him. He seemed confused by the automobile but turned his attention back to her at the question, his head dipping in a very shallow bow.

"I am Thor, son of Odin." Her lips formed into a thin line, unsure of what to make of his answer. What kind of name was that? Norwegian? Dutch? He sounded British... a very posh British.

He _had_ said that his name was Thor, but she had half wondered if it was a drunken spell at the time that skewed the truth. But the way he held himself was so undeniably regal that there was almost an air of authenticity to the proclamation. She extended her right hand out to him rather stiffly.

"Persephone Evans." Thor took her hand into his, but instead of shaking it as she had intended, knelt down and pressed his lips to her knuckles. She bit the inner part of her lip to keep in her shock and quickly drew her hand away, muttering for him to take a seat as she circled around to the drivers side, throwing a backpack into the backseat before starting the car.

The drive was sufficatingly silent, Thor's head was continuously scanning the outside terrain as they drove through the town to her rental apartment. Carefully pulling into the driveway Percy checked the time on the dashboard, 5:32 AM. In just a few minutes it would already be dawn.

Her eyes felt heavy and she inwardly cringed at the realization of just how long of a work day it was going to be working out in the blisteringly hot New Mexico midday sun. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath as she turned off the buggy, she would get through this, just like in college. All she had to do was take it a little bit at a time, keep her head focused on the task at hand. She leaned over Thor and opened up the passenger side door for him and ushered him to follow her into the building.

Once inside she emptied out her bag with the clothes from the lost and found section she had swiped from the hospital, she had no idea what she he was so she had just grabbed the largest that they had. He was inspecting things around the living room with a unique curiosity, picking up the television remote from the coffee table and turning it over in his hands.

"Here, put these on." She all but threw the pile at his and he scrambled to catch it, but thanked her nonetheless.

Percy retreated into the side bedroom as Thor began to remove the hospital gown and began to get dressed for the day herself. She changed into her usual business-casual outfit of beige khakis and a short sleeve button down shirt and headed into the bathroom, frowning at the state of her hair. Most of her curls had deformed and lost volume, leaving her with a stringy, limp rats nest for a head. She removed her eyepatch once again and grabbed some bobby pins and hair ties from her toiletry bag and began to section off three parts to her hair to create three ponytails. After a few minutes of correct positioning, pinning, and teasing she had an almost passable messy bun.

She kept her makeup simple, just enough to hide the tiredness in her eyes and be presentable for work.

It was then that her stomach chose to make the loudest growling noise that she had ever heard.

Percy patted her pockets for a moment before picking up the clothes she just discarded, fished her cell phone out of her sweatpants from last night. She pulled up Darcy's contact and sent her a quick text with her address and a plea to come pick up the big lug asap, she wasn't going to risk her job to babysit.

The moment she left her room she was greeted to the sight of a shirtless Thor, who was gazing out the window at the developing sunrise. Percy felt heat rise to her face, if it was from fear or attraction she couldn't tell. Even though it was definitely pleasant to see an attractive half naked man standing in her living room, it was not lost on her that he could probably kill her just by slapping her across the face. He noticed her presence and took a moment to slip on the long sleeve shirt she had given him, but it was obviously too small.

"Blue sky, one sun... is this Earth?"

"As far as I know, yup." All she could think about in the moment was food, and nothing Thor said would phase her now. "You hungry?"

"Famished." She opens the fridge, greeted with the bare essentials she bought for the week, removing the dozen eggs and package of bacon. Setting them down on the counter she heads to the stove top, and begins to preheat the largest pan she has and simultaneously brings a kettle to a boil. Looking back at Thor, she is immediately reminiscent about Gaston from Beauty and the Beast and the hunter's veracious appetite and decides to fry up 12 strips of the bacon, carefully resealing the package after placing each piece into the sizzling pan. Thor watches as she fetches the coffee grounds from the bottom row of the scarce cupboard and places three heaping scoops into the fresh press.

Percy flipped the bacon over to the other side, grabbing a paper towel to soak up the extra fat when it jumped out of the pan to slightly burn her. As the kettle whistles she pulled it off the heat and drowns the coffee grounds in the boiling water and leaves it to set. She then aligns the strips of bacon into groups of two she cracks an egg on top of each pair, bohemian style eggs were her perfect go-to fast breakfast. She lowers the heat and places the lid on top of the pan to allow the eggs to set, turning around she nearly jumps at the sight of Thor staring at her intently, as if deep in thought.

He had not noticed before, but now in the newfound light it was clear to him that the young woman's eye was non organic. While the majority of it was a pale off white that gleamed like glass, the iris itself was a flat gray, continuously churning and rotating within the sphere, as if it it were thinking. It had been a few hundred years since his last visit to Midgard, and while their technology was painfully underdeveloped in comparison to other worlds, their progress was improving at an impressive pace.

"You can sit down at the table, it's almost done."

A minute later, the two of them were silently devouring their respective meals. Percy had given herself two slices and an egg and given Thor the rest in an attempt to satisfy his enormous appetite, but the way he was scarfing it all down she couldn't even tell if he was getting full. She popped her last bit of bacon in her mouth when she heard a knock at the door, doing a quick run to open it and let in Darcy and Selvig, the latter started to spread out pictures of last night across the floor and coffee table. He handed Percy back the bracelet she had given him last night, once again thanking her for the footage.

Percy left the three of them alone, going back into her room to grab her handbag for work and slipped into a pair of oxfords. When she returned, Selvig was questioning Thor while showing him a picture that clearly showed the larger man's silhouette falling from what appeared as a blister in the sky, bulging, convexing and surrounded on all sides by stars.

"Care to explain what you were doing in the middle of this?"

"What else would one do in the Bifrost?" Thor replied while still chewing on his eggs, his tone implying that his answer was obvious all the while Selvig seemed to grow more agitated. Thor then took a large gulp of the coffee she had poured for him to drown out all of the food he had shoved in his mouth, his expression changing to that of appreciation.

"This drink... I like it." Darcy had been rather silent since she arrived, for once, all but drooling over Thor as she had watched him eat. She nodded her head up in down in agreement with his proclamation.

"I know, it's great-"

"Another!" He yelled just before slamming Percy's ceramic mug onto the floor tile, causing all three of them to jump.

"What are you doing?!" Percy screeched, her right hand clutching right over her pounding heart.

"It was delicious, I wanted more." He calmly replied.

"Well, then just ask politely! No need to smash my stuff!"

"I meant no disrespect."

Just then Percy's phone started to ring from her pocket, the tone being the bland ringing that was automatically assigned when she bought the damn thing. She didn't recognize the number, but it was definitely a New Mexico area code.

"Please don't smash anything else." She pleaded, stepping away to answer the call.

"You have my word." 

She greeted the caller with a timid hello.

"Miss Evans?"

"Speaking."

"Hi, glad I caught you. This is Joshua from the New Mexico branch of Herria Military." Hearing the name of the company made Percy take a short breath, immediately making her way to the front door while taking out her car keys.

"Oh, hi Joshua. I was _just_ on my way to the site, I'll be there in about 20 minutes."

"Actually, I'm calling to tell you that the testing has been delayed until further notice. We'll need you to be on call for the next couple of days until we can secure another area if the current... _situation_ doesn't get resolved."

"I'm sorry..." Her voice quickly became much firmer than before and a fake smile formed on her face that was laced with malice. "But I flew all the way out here for a five day testing period. I was told that the permits were all in place from the legal department."

"They were, but the legal team didn't really expect a _satellite_ _to land_ in the area." The man on the other side of the line replied, equally as snarky.

"A satellite... like, something from space?" She could hear him laughing on the other side of the line.

"Yeah, one of those. We're trying everything in our power to remedy the situation, but our team will need you to stay in town until further notice. You will of course, be compensated for your time." A pleasant goodbye was exchanged before Percy hung up, turning back around to reenter the apartment only to be blocked by the towering Thor.

"Where." It was more of a command than a question, but either way she wasn't sure how to answer. "This object you have spoken of." He elaborated.

"Um, I guess about... twelve miles east?" She scratched her head in uncertainty. He all but pushed passed her out the door, taking long strides and glaring up at the sun to gather a sense of direction. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Twelve miles east."

"Why would you care about a satellite?"

"It is not what they say it is. What it is, is mine."

"And how are you planning to get there?" This gave Thor pause. If he were at his usual strength the distance would be no issue, but it was obvious that he had greatly underestimated the strength of his weakened form and was uncertain if it would be able to reach that far without consequence. He looked to the blue buggy, the strange mode of transportation the mortals had developed and was immediately inspired. He turned back to Percy, who had been hot on his heels.

"If you take me there I will tell you everything your companions wish to know, Lady Persephone."

"Persephone, don't listen to him." Selvig called, exiting the apartment as well. "Everything he's saying, about Bifrosts and Odin... they're all just myths you read as a kid!" She looked in between the two men, her logic telling her that Selvig was right, and that Thor had been making it all up from the start... but something else in her wanted to believe in the blond man, who quite obviously seemed to believe everything he was saying. She motioned for Thor to get into the car before turning to Selvig.

"We've strung him along this far, might as well try going all the way." Despite the protests from Selvig she climbed into the drivers seat of the car and turned onto the empty road ahead of them, following the route she had originally planned to take for work. She glanced over at Thor, who was staring straight ahead and seemed very pleased with himself.

"So, what kind of answers could you give Selvig to help with his research?"

"When I retrieve Mjolnir, all shall be revealed."

"Ok... still cryptic."

"You think me strange." He says, no hint of questioning in his tone. A sputtered laugh leaves her lips, the absurdity of the situation was starting to catch up to her.

"Well you are..." Her head bobbed up and down while her eyes focused on the road, trying to think of an apt rebuttal. "You're definitely unique, buddy."

"I think you are as well, is it common for mortals to have forged eyes in this era?"

"No." Percy paused, the question making her slightly uncomfortable. She couldn't even tell if his question was innocent or sarcastic, or if he even knew _how_ to be sarcastic. She was used to people looking at her, noticing her eye and then quickly and purposefully turning away, making a point not to stare. Those who did stare usually looked confused or gave her a pitying look, but with Thor, it felt like he was genuinely curious. "Does it bother you?"

"I have seen far stranger things across the realms than you, my lady." She chuckled at that, letting a genuine smile through that Thor found enchanting on her.

"Do you say that to all the girls?"

"Not to all, sometimes it is untrue." She slightly shook her head back and forth, denying the feeling that he was half flirting with her and Thor himself let out a very hearty laugh. "What they seek is a bridge. A rainbow bridge."

"Yeah?" Percy scoffed, her mind immediately going to Mario Kart. She was about to ask him to elaborate, but then spotted artificial lighting in the valley approaching on their right. Slowing the car down, she inched forward even closer to the source.

A massive base made of clear, plastic access tubes with a large cubical structure was built on top of the sight of a large crater. A wire fence surrounded the structure and armed guards were stationed at every entrance, in the distance a few cars and trailers left in the opposite direction of the road and Percy couldn't help but shake the feeling she had seen vehicles like that before.

Reaching over to the passenger's side she opened up the glove compartment and took out a pair of binoculars that she stashed away ages ago under the excuse that one day she would pick up bird-watching and handed them to Thor. She, in turn, covered her human eye with one hand and with the other manuvered the zoom capabilities of her eye with her bracelet to scope out the facility.

"You're saying... that your _thing_ is in there?" She said quite skeptically, feeling she already knew the answer.

"Wait here." He ordered and reaches for the door handle, but before he can pull it open Percy hits the locking mechanism from her own door to stop him.

"There's no way you're going down there, listen to me Thor... this is the _government_ , seriously powerful people, and they're not going to let you just walk in there and steal!"

"Tis not theft if it is rightfully mine. Now, will you allow me to leave or must I break my way out?"


	4. A Close Encounter

**Three years ago...**

"Congratulations on graduating." Percy turned around with a bright smile on her face, symbolic diploma in one hand and graduation cap in the other to see Klaus Warren standing behind her. His honey blond hair was slightly mussed by where his own cap had been placed on his head, there were wrinkles at the corners of his stern amber eyes as he smiled widely at her. His regalia was more elaborate than hers, patterns of velvet contrasting against the flimsy nylon fabric of her own gown. 

"Congrats to you too, _Doctor._ " It almost seemed like pure luck that he had finished his Ph.D. in neurobiology at the same time that she had completed her requirements for her MS for Robotics Engineering. They proved time and time again to be each other's intellectual equal, albeit in different fields. 

"I am still in amazement we did not fail in our defending... I am imagining this is my dreams and I will awake with one half of a dissertation." His thick German accent was present in the way he spoke.

"Yeah well, let's hope it was all worth it." She replied with a nervous chuckle. "Did your family come?"

"No, no I will have great celebration when I return to home, today is for taking a time for relaxation."

"Well if you want to _relax_ at dinner, you can join my sister and me."

"I do not wish to intrude." She looped her arm around his and patted him on the back in reassurance.

"I invited you, we should really, properly, celebrate. We're _done_ , we _did it_." She gestured to her new prosthetic, "I still can't believe I made this thing."

"Ah yes, you made. I only invent neuron patterns necessary, but _you_ made." He joked, earning a light slap on the arm.

"There is she." Amongst the crowd of middle aged moms and pint sized little kids all grouped together in family units Percy spotted the waving hands of her little sister Cora, who started dodging the sidewalk photo-ops to join the two of them. There was no question that she inherited all the looks from their parents, her rich dark hair was longer now and nearly reached her waist, red lipstick complimenting her perfectly white teeth as she smiled.

"She is very beautiful." Klaus gawked openly, something he had never done in her prescene before. Percy tried not to be bitter that she herself hadn't won on the genetics lotto and instead felt pride swell up at her gorgeously sweet little sibling.

"She's eighteen." Percy quickly shot back, giving the man who was a few years her elder a dark look. Klaus held his hands up defensively, slightly backing away. As Cora got closer, Percy jogged over to meet her halfway and the two hugged each other quite strongly, giving each other air kisses as a part of an inside joke they had when they were children. Percy took her hand and led her back to where Klaus was standing, giving a small wave to the younger woman.

"Cora this is Dr. Klaus Warren, the man who helped me become a cyborg."

"Wow, you're a lot cuter than Percy described!" Cora beamed as she shook the man's hand, earning a playful smack on the arm from her older sister who could see how uncomfortable Klaus suddenly became.

"I am happy _mein seenlenverwandte_ thinks I am attractive." He nervously smiled, finally regaining his composure, but what he said made both sisters go wide eyed.

Cora's eyes immediately brightened, an almost inhuman squealing sound of pure joy came from her mouth as she let go of the older man's hand in order to embrace him, ecstatically bouncing up and down. Percy stared at them in a stunned silence, it was rare to witness a meeting like this, something so intimate and life changing -- these were the two most important people in her life and they had never seemed happier than in this moment.

_So why did it feel like her heart had been ripped right out of her chest?_

"Excuse me, Miss Evans?" Her attention was drawn away from the couple by a middle aged man dressed in a sharp suit. She was unsure if she had ever seen him before, he had one of those faces that blended in easily to a crowd. He held up his hand, which she hesitantly shook. "Agent Phil Coulson. May I speak to you privately for a moment?" She glanced back at the newly formed couple, who were oblivious to the world and nodded her head, Coulson leading her over to a more secluded area. "I represent the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"Can't say I'm familiar."

"If we do our job correctly, the general public wouldn't be aware of us. I would like to talk to you about a future employment opportunity with your recent graduation."

"You said you were an agent, right? I'm sorry, I've already been approached by the CIA and some very prestigious news outlets and I'm not interested in doing undercover camera work."

"Right to the point, I like that." A stern but genuine smile cross his face. "It's reasonable to not want to be a spy, it's a dangerous profession and I wouldn't be approaching you if I didn't think you were capable. But if that career path isn't for you, our division is always looking for engineers."

"I'm not sure if I want to be involved with the government..."

"So instead you'll waste your talent designing assembly lines for automotives?" Percy felt her blood run cold... she had only accepted that particular job offer a few days ago and had told no one.

"How did you know..."

"Your designs for your bionic eye are patented, from what I believe. That technology would be very helpful in my field of work, potentially even life saving." He completely ignored her question, and Percy had to try and stop herself from just shaking in her shoes, feeling extremely threatened.

"I'm... not prepared to make that decision right now." Her arms came to cross over her front in a defensive gesture as she repeated the generic NDA description she used when people asked about her work. "The use of a mechanical eye to restore sight is on track to be commercially available following the pending approval from the FDA. The video and photographic capture capabilities will not be available to the public."

"So just yourself then?"

"I have to go. It was... nice meeting you, Agent Coulson." Just as she turned to leave, he started to reach for his jacket pocket. Percy paused, her heart beating a mile a minute, fearing the worst. She could feel almost all the tension in her body leave as he pulled out a business card and handed it to her.

"In case you change your mind."

* * *

**Present Day**

Percy still couldn't believe that she was doing this. She still couldn't believe they had _let her in_ to the facility just by asking for Agent Coulson with the card, and counted herself extremely lucky that she never bothered to clear out the contents of her wallet. An agent led her to one of the surveillance rooms and told her to wait, she could clearly see Coulson interrogating Thor through what she assumed to be a two way mirror. She watched as Coulson pulled a phone from his pocket and read the message in mild confusion before exiting the interrogation room, his eyes immediately landing on her.

"Persephone Evans, this is a surprise." She leaned forward to accept his extended hand, his grip neither firm nor lax.

"Agent Coulson, right? Sorry, it's been a few years. How is the erm - Strategic Homeland Defense Division?"

"We go by S.H.I.E.L.D. now, less of a mouthful." He glanced down at his phone again, eyes flickering quickly across the screen before placing it back in his pocket. "I understand you're working for Herria Military, have second thoughts about government employment?"

"They pay well, that is when my work isn't compromised by a giant circus tent." He laughed dryly, hands clasped together in front of him.

"Is that why you came down? My team will be out of your hair in a week if all goes smoothly."

"Actually, I'm here for him." Percy motioned over to Thor, confused that he was no longer alone in the room even though she hadn't seen anybody else enter. A tall, slender man wearing a black suit and luxuriously patterned scarf looked down at Thor in the chair, who seemed to be hanging onto every word he said.

"You know him?" Her gaze snapped back to Coulson, who now was leaning against a desk with arms crossed.

"Vaguely, used to work for Herria, heard a rumor he got in a nasty accident... so I'm not surprised he's a little-" She made a looney gesture with her pointer finger and shrugged her shoulders. For once in her life, the years she poured into community theater acting were actually useful. She had just spent nearly an hour in her car fabricating and rehearsing a makeshift story until she entered the facility, but it was her performance now that mattered. "I feel so bad for the guy you know? He's not exactly _all there_."

"He tore through our security like string cheese."

"Wouldn't be surprised, his work was top secret... if I had to guess he was probably extra muscle for transportation." She was really talking out her ass now, she only _tested_ weapons, and had no idea how they were transported. Do governments hire security teams for that purpose? 

Coulson's face didn't give anything away, and in a fumbling moment decided to play the empathy card. "Look, he's lost and confused and obviously in a rough place... I'll keep a good eye on him and he won't be a problem again."

"Let's see if he recognizes you, then." He motions her to go first, he punches a security code into the door allowing it to slide open. When it did, the man in black was still standing there, speaking to Thor.

"Farewell, brother." His voice was like silk, the sound of it nestling into ever crevice of her soul. She couldn't help but stare, jumping slightly as his lithe frame turned to her, his shining eyes making direct contact with her. She couldn't see his face clearly in the other room, but now that they were so close, it wasn't hard to tell that this was possibly the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life. His jet black hair was slicked back behind his ears, pointed nose almost turned up at the sight of her, thin lips on the verge of forming a scowl. Everything about him screamed opulence.

Loki inwardly scoffed at the young woman, what was she doing staring at an empty wall with sure awe and curiosity? It was almost as if she was looking right at him, but his projection was only visible to Thor, not any Midgardian. He stepped to the side, he was directly in her path and wasn't fond of the idea of her dissipating his illusion. To his utter astonishment, her eyes followed his movement. His brows furrowed in confusion, head involuntarily tilting to the side as he stared down at her.

"Goodbye." Thor mutters, causing Percy to break her gaze with the man for a moment. When she turned back around, he had vanished without a trace, almost like magic.

"Goodbye? I just got back." Agent Coulson half joked. Percy turned to Coulson, confused. Did he not hear or see the man who had been standing a few feet away from them? "Do you know her?" Thor lifted his head to meet her gaze, but for a second it was Percy who didn't recognize _him_. He looked so broken and empty, but as he understood that she had come to his aid, a small glimmer of hope shined in his eyes.

"Yes, Lady Persephone is my companion." She smiled at that, it was almost the nicest thing he had said to her so far. Coulson sighed and rubbed his receding hairline in defeat.

"Keep him in town for the next few days, just in case we need to talk to him again." She nods in agreement and reaches her right hand out for Thor to take.

"Come on, buddy." He hesitantly takes it and stands up from the chair, compliantly following her out. She was putting up an excellent front, but Thor could feel the slight tremor in her hand and squeezed it in reassurance as they walked past the security checkpoint at the exit, finally making it to her car.

" _Thank you Lady Percy for breaking me out of the scary government building._ " She imitated in a deep throaty voice trying to get a chuckle out of her blond muscly companion. She glanced over as she buckled up the seatbelt only to see his solemn and dejected face.

"What happened, Thor?" Percy asked in a much softer tone. For as strong as he was, in this moment he looked as if one wrong word would shatter him completely.

"My father is dead." He choked out, an obvious hitch in his voice. Percy felt every muscle in her body tense, unsure of what to do. Wordlessly she placed her small hand on top of his, giving a gentle squeeze before pulling back and starting up the car. Seeing the sincerity on his face, and the entire incident with the man who disappeared into thin air, Percy finally felt as though Thor was actually telling the truth, as crazy as it was. Maybe he really wasn't of this world.

The two of them sat in a sort of understood silence as the miles stretched on until they made their way back into town.

Before they reached her apartment, Percy parked the car on the side of a street and turned to Thor.

"Wait here a few minutes, I'll be right back." He nodded in acknowledgement, watching as she ran into a brightly colored building he had noticed earlier that day. It felt as if no time passed at all until she exited again, carrying two large pink boxes and balancing some sort of beverage on top. He got out of the car to meet her halfway.

"Allow me." He said, reliving her of the items despite her weak protests that she could handle it herself. The boxes themselves were not heavy at all, and upon closer inspection there were indeed four cups of what smelled like coffee. She opened the passenger side door for him and he took care not to spill the hot liquid as she told him to be careful.

"What is within these boxes?"

"Donuts, they're a popular desert known to go well with coffee."

"I did not think you capable of eating to this capacity." He said innocently, causing a slight chuckle from the young woman. She was lucky that the store was still open and had basically cleared them out for all they had with nearly 30 of the treats in tow.

"They're for you, when my mother died I ate crap like this for breakfast, lunch and dinner." She could feel his eyes shift to look at her, but didn't meet his gaze. It wouldn't be a good idea for either of them for her to start crying while driving a car. "I don't know anything about your genetics, but us humans combat sadness with sugar. It's not a long term solution, but if you want to... we can just scarf down all that crap and just talk until the sun comes up."

"Lady Persephone..."

"I can't imagine how you are feeling personally, but I know that's all I wanted." She pulled into the driveway of her apartment and put the car in park, this time finding the courage to look Thor in the eyes, her heart beating furiously in her chest. "Someone to talk to."

And that is exactly what they did. After setting the food on the dinner table and sitting down, Thor explained in entirety what Loki had told him and went on to recall the events that led to his banishment, his voice thick with regret when describing the last interaction he had with his father. Persephone listened quietly, rubbing his shoulder and holding his hand as she watched Thor experience humility for what seemed like the first time. But she couldn't help but ask some burning questions.

"So that man in the black coat when I came to get you, was your brother?"

"Yes, I am surprised that you could see him. He is a master of mischief and illusions."

"Might have something to do with this." She pointed to her right eye. "Maybe his _magic_ never counted on cameras."

"Why do you hide your gift?" Thor asked, mouth still full of food. He recalled in the hospital that she had hidden it away and could tell that she carried an aura of shame despite the fact he found it miraculous for Earth's current technology.

"It's not a gift, it's a science experiment. I just wanted to prove myself, that I could do something amazing if I put my mind to it... make something that's never been done before."

"And you have succeeded, I have never seen one such as you." He smiled much more brightly than before, not missing the blush that formed on her face at his compliment. "You have shown me great kindness, and I have been far less grateful than you deserve, my lady." His hand moved to grab her own which was resting on her lap and began to lean down, the distance between them decreasing rapidly until their faces were inches apart.

"What are you doing?" She asked, panicked. Her head whipped backwards immediately, causing Thor to stop his movements. He automatically let go of her hand and leaned backwards in the chair.

"My apologies! Perhaps I read this wrong?"

"Um... uh... yeah, maybe..." She started sputtering like an idiot, all sensible thought leaving her. "I mean, does that usually work for you? The big, muscly, charming, blond thing?" He seemed to think for a moment before nodding his head.

"Most of the time, yes." She laughed and held out the last donut box to him, which had a single strawberry glaze with sprinkles left inside. He happily reached in and took the treat.

"I'll admit, I had my own selfish reason for helping you." Thor looked at her curiously, waiting for her to elaborate. "I thought you were my soulmate. I know, it sounds stupid... but I felt almost like I was drawn to you, like we were meant to meet."

"I see," He pondered, taking a large bite of the donut. Knowing that she was meant for someone else eased his ego as to why she resisted his advances. "Soulmates are not as common on Asgard as they are amongst your people, alas I do not have a mark."

"Honestly, I don't know if there's a woman in this universe that can put up with you."

"You have done well, so far. How you were able to use your wit to free me from that cell, it reminds me of my brother." He smiled fondly, all he had now of his brother would be memories. "Perhaps the fondness I hold for you is not that of a partner, but as family."

"Urg, please. I _have_ a little sister, and I definitely don't want to _be_ one."

"You have a younger sibling?" Thor asked in surprise, Percy nodded wistfully.

"She's a bit of a handful, but I'll always love her."

"Has she ever tried to stab you, as well?"

" _Huh_?"

"Nevermind."


	5. Lightning and the Thunder

"Tell me, Loki, how did you get the Jotuns into Asgard?" Heimdall addressed the newly crowned king as he traversed across the Bifrost, the fresh disappearance of Sif and the Warriors Three leading him to the one route they could have taken leave.

"You think the Bifrost is the only way in and out of the Realm?" He made no effort to deny the Gatekeeper's accusation. "There are secret paths between worlds to which even you with all your gifts are blind." 

"All this, because the Allfather forbid you from Midgard. And yet here you stand, knowledge beyond your station- and no mate."

For centuries Loki had studied and scouted, leaving no chasm unchecked in the entire realm, and finally his efforts bore purpose. It was taxing illusion magic to shield Heimdall's all-seeing eyes, but not impossible. Traversing the realms without the Bifrost had become a practiced feat after his hundreds of excursions.

"I am in need of hidden passages no longer, now that I am King."

"If she could see now as I do, do you think she would be pleased?"

Heimdall could still recall Loki as a boy, begging the Gatekeeper to look upon his soulmate, only to become disheartened that she was not there. When Persephone Evans was born, Loki, now a young man had come back to the Gatekeeper for the first time in hundreds of years demanding to know if he could see her.

However faint their connection, separated by entire worlds, Loki could finally feel her.

And Heimdall had remained silent, under the orders of the Allfather.

"Enough!" Loki clenched his jaw, speaking each word with leveled anger. "For your act of treason against your _King_ , you are relieved of your duties as Gatekeeper, and are no longer a citizen of Asgard."

"Then I need no longer obey you." In anticipation of Heimdall's attack, Loki conjured the Casket of Frost from thin air. His pale skin turned the same blue hue as the magic froze him solid as the blade came inches from his own neck.

* * *

Percy awoke the next morning on the couch in her living room, the coat she had given Thor yesterday draped across her as a makeshift blanket. Her eyes squinted at the television as she sat up, just then noticing Darcy with her legs kicked up on the armchair next to her and scrolling through the channels.

"What time is it?" She groaned.

"About eight." Darcy replied, finally settling on a news channel. "Betcha missed the Stark Expo last night, it was wild." The two watched the replayed footage from last night, the much anticipated opening ceremony for the Stark Expo.

She herself had been asked to attend twice, once for representing her military employer, and another time as herself to showcase her former bio-robotics research. The Expo in itself stood as a 'beacon to light the future' in Stark's own words. 

She found the Expo as pretentious as the man himself. 

Freedom of knowledge, publishing all her research to the public domain... an idealic gesture. It seemed counterintuitive though, considering how Iron Man prided himself on _privatizing_ world peace. 

"Let me guess, Stark flew in all grandiose and gave a condescending speech."

" _Grandiose_ , nice SAT word there, sleeping beauty." Percy peered toward the kitchen area. At the table were Thor and Selvig, talking in hushed voices and drawing within a small notebook about things she was sure she wouldn't understand, or preferably might not _want_ to.

"Do I want to know how you got into my house?" Percy turned back to Darcy with a quirked eyebrow.

"Hercules let us in."

Darcy stood up and picked up a few plastic bags from the floor that Percy hadn't noticed and began to empty the contents out onto the coffee table. It was mostly junk food... Pop-tarts of various flavors, Eggo waffles, frozen Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches, but also a couple loaves of bread with peanut butter (both chunky and smooth) and jellies (strawberry, raspberry and blueberry).

"Is this your way of asking me to make breakfast?" 

"I mean, most of it is pre-made... more like I want ya to _heat up_ breakfast." Percy chuckled and by force of habit turned all the packages over to read the nutritional facts and list of ingredients, knowing she wouldn't be happy with the results. Her parents never let her eat stuff like this, so she never had a craving for it.

"Let me change..."

She reappeared from her side bedroom a few minutes later wearing a white polo and a long black skirt, which was much more forgiving to the dry heat of New Mexico. Together the two women began preheating ovens and popping Pop-tarts into the toaster, slapping anything and everything onto five separate plates, anticipating that Thor's hunger had never let up.

The two men promptly cleared the table of the star-maps and soil sample readings to make way for the plates, the four of them ate in silence and formed the picture of a strange rag-tag family... or that strange grouping of cousins that you stick together at the end table at a wedding.

"All this proof to support Dr. Foster's theory... but we'll never be able to convince the scientific community of any of it without hard evidence." Selvig frowned.

A sharp knocking sound echoed through the following silence, the four turning their attention with curiosity to the patio doors. 

A sharp rapid knocking from the glass sliding doors behind them caused all four of them to turn around. Standing there with grinning faces were four towering strangers in heavy historic armor, three men and one woman who was waving happily.

"Found you!" Volstagg, the largest man who carried a battleaxe exclaimed, Percy defensively jumped out of her seat at the intrusion.

"My friends!" Thor ran to greet them, arms open and embraced each of them with familiarity.

"My apologies, fair ladies. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three." Fandral gestured between them and moved toward Darcy, who's mouth was still open in shock. "I say, Midgardians have grown more ravishing that I remember. I am pleased to be at your service."

"My friends, I've never been happier to see anyone, but you should not have come."

"We're here to take you home." Fandral said with a chuckle.

"You know I can't, my father is dead because of me. I must remain in exile." The four of them exchanged a confused look, but it was Sif who spoke.

"Thor, your father still lives."

The five Asgardians begin to talk in hushed voices, Thor's facial expressions hardening the more he learned of what had occurred during his absence. The rest of them just stood there, almost like statues, until they noticed the violent storm in the distance, growing closer each second.

"Was someone else coming?" Darcy asked, and they all exchanged a concerned look. A dark figure fell from the storm, the sounds of explosions echoing in the distance. Thor turned to his new friends, placing a hand on Percy's shoulder.

"Lady Persephone, the three of you must leave this town and get to safety."

"Thor, _you_ can not fight along with _us_." Sif objected, shield and sword already drawn. "Your mortality will lead to your death in such a battle."

"Or one of ours in efforts to protect you, my prince." Frandal added.

"You're right." Thor sighed, the Warriors Three surprised at his easy resignation. The prince they knew was never one to turn down a battle, even an unwinnable one. "I will clear the streets, no innocents will die this day."

"Let us help." Selvig offered, the two women nodding in agreement.

"We two will clear the east," He gestured to himself and Persephone, "you the west."

They all set off with their missions, Thor, Percy and Selvig pleaded with people to leave town in their cars or to simply stay off the streets while Darcy took it upon herself to start emptying the furry residents of the animal shelter into her truck.

"So... you're really an alien prince?" The two of them watched from behind a car as the Destroyer began to approach the Warrior's Three, who were positioned for battle.

"Aye." He glanced away from the Destroyer to look at her, now noticing how terrified she was at the sight of the metal behemoth that expelled fiery explosives from its chest. Several buildings from the town were already alight in flames from its destructive nature.

He placed his hand on top of her head and patting it gently, if to calm her or himself he wasn't quite sure. Secretly, he knew that no matter how valiantly his friends fought they would not be able to defeat the metal beast that carried within it the power of Odin blood.

Hogun and Fandral took off running towards the Destroyer, Volstagg staggering to lift his larger form off the ground but quickly matched the speed of his comrades. The two smaller men grabbed him from either side and with combined strength hurled the warrior into the air, aiming squarely for the chest of the Destroyer.

"For Asgaaard!"

The metal creature swatted Volstagg to the ground with little effort, it's face shield retreating to deliver a fiery blast when Sif leaped off a nearby rooftop and drove her spear through the body of the Destroyer. She smiled for a moment, before it began to stir beneath her. Slowly the metal pieces of the foe churned and spun fully around to release yet another attack, Sif barely dodging.

The Asgardians ran to retreat when it struck again, releasing a blast that sent them flying in all directions, smashing into the nearby storefronts and cars. A pouch that Hogun wore on his belt broke free of his grip, landing in the middle of the street.

"Run." Thor said to her, pushing her gently from their hiding place now that he saw the Destroyer set on him now that the others were scattered. "Go, now!"

Percy nodded and started to run as fast as her legs could take her, but not fast enough to outrun the energy beam that reduced their previous hiding space to a hunk of burning metal. All the air was knocked out of her lungs as the ripple of the explosion connected with her back, tossing her body through the air.

Her head was ringing, she slowly opened her eyes and blinked up at the sky. She was in pain, so much pain that it was almost numbing. She blinked and Thor was at her side, frantic and mouthing words she couldn't quite hear, grabbing her hand and squeezing tightly. Percy's gaze shifted down to her front, horrified at the sight of a sharp piece of twisted metal sticking through the side of her body.

Her shirt had been stained the color of a bright crimson, her skirt flared out and partially shredded.

"No... no..." Thor shook his head in disbelief, looking up to his friends who had managed once more to distract the Destroyer. He knew they would not last for long. That's when he spotted it, laying on the ground midst the battle.

Hogun's pouch.

He began to raise himself off the ground when Percy gripped the material of his sleeve with all of her remaining strength, pulling him back. Her entire body was shaking, on the verge of tears.

"I don't want to die alone..." Her voice was thick with fear.

"How can I allow you to die when you are destined for more?" He forced a small chuckle to put her at ease before charging straight into the thick of the battle, dodging through the flaming wreckage and narrowly grabbing the pouch from the ground. He raced back, pouring the contents into his impatient hands.

The fragile healing stones had been crushed upon impact, leaving only useless powder. Sifting through it all, he finally found a single stone still intact and gently set it on the ground.

"This will hurt." He warned before gingerly lifting her off the piece of iron, disheartened by her muffled screams of pain. Laying her back on the ground, he grabbed the stone. As it began to glow he crushed it over her wound, the luminescent powder seeping into the crevices and healing it completely, leaving only a faint scar.

Thor looked over her for further injuries, relieved to only see faint scratches and bruises. He paused when he saw movement from the corner of his eye. Her leg, her soulmark...

It was... moving? 

He squinted with curiosity, watching the curves of the characters bend and shift in the light, revealing their true nature to his eyes only. Those runes, familiar in more ways than one. That distinct penmanship that had inked the parchments he would crumble into balls and hurl at his brother in their youths...

Her mark was in Allspeak.

Through the eyes of the Destroyer Loki watched the display with bemusement, hardly noticing the valiant efforts of Sif and the others to defeat the being. Thor would waste their only healing stone to save his new Midgardian pet? What a waste.

Unconsciously, his hand came to trace the spot of Percy's impalement on his own abdomen.

He ordered the Destroyer to fire a blast at the pair, the sound of it charging being just long enough for Thor to lift Percy off the ground and escape. The two joined Sif who laid injured behind a parked car.

"See you and the others to safety, there is nothing more you can do."

"No! I will die a warrior's death. Stories will be told of this day -"

"Then tell them yourself." Thor interrupted her, and Sif reluctantly nodded. He turned once more to Persephone, patting her head. "Lady Persephone, thank you. For all that you have done for me."

The two women didn't like the finality in his tone. 

Sif harshly grabbed the mortal woman by her arm, yanking her to follow as they distanced themselves from Thor. Thor, would was approaching the Destroyer with resigned, slow strides.

"Brother... for whatever I have done to wrong you, whatever I have done to lead you to do this, I am sorry. But these people have done nothing to you. They are innocents. Take my life, and know I will never return to Asgard." The Destroyer hesitates, observing the defenseless Thor and moves to turn away.

Only to rear back with an outstretched metal arm, throwing Thor across the road. The sickening cracking of mortal bones was heard as he lands crumpled in a heap.

The Destroyer unleashed its final fiery blast at Thor-

_KRAKAKABOOM_

A bolt of lightening from the stormy skies struck down, blinding everyone with its bright, explosive nature. The Destroyer hurled backward from the impact, and from the smoke emerged Thor, clad in his full battle armor and wielding Mjolnir once more.

"Holy fuck." Percy whispered to herself, watching as Thor near effortlessly bashed in the faceplate of the creature and crushing it into the ground, the fire within its mechanism dying out in defeat.

Out of the wreckage and the smoke appeared Agent Coulson and several other battered S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, exiting from their vans. Coulson took a moment to assess the scene before crossing his arms with an exhausted look.

"You know _Theodore_ , I don't think you and Ms. Evans have been completely honest with me."

"Know this, son of Coul. You and I, we fight for the same cause - the protection of this realm and those beyond. From this day forward, count me as your ally." He turned back to Percy. "If no harm is to come the friends I have made here."

"I'm sure S.H.E.I.L.D. would like to fully sponsor Dr. Selvig's research." Coulson shook his head in resignation. He had seen a few things in his day, but he wasn't sure he had been prepared for this much. Thor placed a hand on Percy's shoulder, bending down slightly to look her in the eye. His expression was serious, almost deadly so.

"Lady Persephone, I believe I know of your soulmate. Whatever fate lies before me now, let part of it destine I bring him before you, and may he be even half of your worth."

She didn't know how to respond to that, not even sure if she had heard him correctly. Yet, she couldn't help but feel her eyes start to water while looking at Thor, a feeling in her gut saying that she might never see him again. The bizzare alien-prince-friend she had only known for a few days.

He and his comrades gathered together on the side of the street, Thor raising his hammer triumphantly before shouting to the skies.

"Heimdall! The Bifrost!" A bright explosion of rainbow light rained down from the sky, carrying the Asgardians back home, Percy and S.H.I.E.L.D. looked on amazed. As the light faded upward, Percy looked to the sky but could feel that Coulson had stepped to her side.

"Am I under arrest?"

"Depends on how well you can keep a secret, and consider a new career path."

"I'm not cut out to be a spy-"

"Any interest in Stark Industries?" That... she had not been expecting.

"The industry, sure. Stark? Not so much."

"Stark should have a... change of heart very shortly." Coulson seemed to be smugly proud with his choice of words, leaving Percy confused. "And I'm sure the new CEO would appreciate some women engineers, diversity's all the rage these days."

"Does that diversity include spies?"

She wasn't naïve. There was no way she was leaving New Mexico unmonitored. 

"I can neither confirm or deny that." He untucked one of his hands from his pocket, signaling for his agents to disperse. "Consider applying, I'm sure I can put a word in for you."


	6. Cheap Dreams Come True

It was always the same dream.

She watched on, her perspective taking on that of a fly on the wall as she looked at her own figure and that of a man. Sometimes his face was clear, sometimes he had no face at all, but she always knew it was _him_.

 _"Farewell."_ He would whisper, holding her hand in his, skin cold as ice.

She watched as he materialized a dagger from thin air, whilst her figure stool still. She doubled over in pain as he stabbed her in the stomach.

 _"Farewell."_ Her body crumpled to the ground, on that street in New Mexico. The world around them burned, but his hand was still cold. He was kneeling next to her now, grasping her hand as Thor once did, as he removed the dagger, watching as she bled.

_"Farewell."_

_Chirp chirp chirp chip!_

Percy groaned, barely able to lift her hand out of the bed to push the snooze button on her alarm clock before plopping right back down to the pillows. She cycled through all of the preset alarm options frequently after finding that if she used one for too long that it would fail to pull her out of the nightmare.

Out of all the alarms, the fake birds were by far the most irritating.

_Chirp chirp ch-!_

Nine minutes later, she was finally out of bed. Groggily, she began to get dressed for the day. Working in central Manhattan urged her slightly elevate her wardrobe. She had traded in her khakis for slacks, button-ups for blouses- even started to accessorize. 

It was ironic that her boss dressed far more causally than her. 

But she supposed when you were a famous billionaire, you could dress how you like and still be taken seriously.

Holding her shirt in her hand for a moment, she traced the white raised scar tissues on her stomach, the only tangible proof she had that New Mexico had actually happened. Proof of gods, aliens... and that she had almost died.

She pushed those memories down. 

She was alive, the newest technologies and equipment at her fingertips, and she got to pick the mind of arguably the greatest genius of her generation.

Not that she would ever tell Tony that's how she viewed him. His ego was already astronomical.

Her schedule didn't call for machining today, but opted to wear a brooch anyway just to keep her hands free. She fastened the silver rose, a gift from Cora, to her lapel 

Once in the bathroom she began applying styling gel to her short curls, attempting to give them back some volume for the day. One thing was for sure, short hair was _soooo_ much more manageable. She quickly finished up in the bathroom and grabbed a small case from her bedside table, turning on the earpiece inside and putting it in.

She still needed a mirror for the next part, turning to her small Ikea mirror on the wall Percy held her eye socket open, guiding the prosthetic organ in until it aligned with the small magnets that had been recently surgically installed. The iris flickered to life, warm brown tones expanding and contracting while the inner workings swirled around. It only took about five seconds until the images blinked to life and she had full vision once more.

"Good morning, Ms. Evans." The British voice greeted through her earpiece.

"Morning, Jarvis," She took a long yawn. "and can you call me Percy, already?"

"That would go against my protocols, Ms. _Persephone_ Evans." She blew a raspberry, it was _too_ early in the morning for him to be sassing her.

"Alright, smartass. What's the weather looking like?"

"The date is May 23rd, it is a comfortable 67 degrees outside." In her right eye he had pulled up a display of the hourly weather forecast, there was a high chance of rain around 7 PM. She reached for her bracelet on the bedside table and dismissed the display.

Unbeknownst to her at the start of her employment, there were actually a _lot_ of perks to working for Tony Stark himself. He fully funded her personally projects, and with some pleading with a _very_ conceited neurosurgeon they were able to successfully remove her original model and substitute in the small magnetic structures that acted like an anchor for all future iterations. It had been Tony's idea to install J.A.R.V.I.S. into this latest one, and Percy had no shame in admitting how fond she had become of the AI over time.

"Any progress on those calculations overnight?"

"Yes, the neurological patterns have been analyzed and mapped to the joints of the robotic arm. The setup is waiting for you in the lab."

"Thanks J, couldn't do it whatout ya."

* * *

_**Stark Tower, 34th Floor** _

"Come on..." Percy was sure she looked ridiculous. The small electrode patches that dotted across her forehead and arm connected to a rainbow of different wires that all fed directly into this _stupid_ robotic arm. 

It was supposed to _move_ , why wasn't it?

"Jarvis? Any diagnostics?"

It took a moment before he answered, no doubt analyzing the electrical inputs in real time and tracing them back to the machinery.

"It would appear that the resistivity in the wires are blocking the minute signals."

"Great... can you order me different wires in a smaller gauge? Same quantity, same colors." Carefully she began to remove the semi tacky electrodes from her head, placing them neatly in a bundle before removing them from the arm.

"The request has been sent to the purchasing department. They should arrive by tomorrow 6 PM."

"Where are we with your interfacing progress?"

"I still require further force readings, but a test of simple movements should not be an issue." After hearing that, Percy started to jump up and down in childish glee, clapping her hands together. At this point, it was still a tad too unpredictable to have J.A.R.V.I.S. interface wirelessly, so she had to plug the arm into the wall outlet.

She watched expectantly as the arm straightened up all by itself, or rather, J.A.R.V.I.S. straightened it.

"How's it feel, J?"

"I am a program, I am without feeling." Something about the way he said that broke her heart. Sure, the engineer part of her brain could understand how J.A.R.V.I.S' voice matrix was configured to replicate emotional tones- but maybe it was because Tony was such a genius and had made it so _real_ that she felt there was something more.

Not exactly human, but more than a program that could be switched off. 

"You know what I mean... do you think we have enough data for you to replicate motor control?" J.A.R.V.I.S. could sense her sudden distress, unaware that his remark regarding feelings had been the trigger. Nevertheless, his programming deemed it necessary to put Percy at ease. In one fluid motion, the fingers of the arm bent in order to form a thumbs-up hand gesture.

As as his calculation matrix had predicted, she giggled.

"The queen of the underworld dares to chuckle?!" Tony bellowed dramatically as he entered the lab, Percy dramatically rolled her eyes in response.

"I have _no_ idea what you're talking about." She replied sarcastically.

"I believe Mr. Stark was referencing the Greek myth of Persephone."

"Yeah, Jarvis... I got that." Percy gestured Tony closer to take a look at her progress with the project. "I think Jarvis' learning matrix is picking up on finger movement really easily, and that was supposed to be the hardest part."

"You think it's soon enough to put an ETA on Iron Legion?" Tony prodded the fingers with a nearby caliper, the hand grasping it rather forcefully before setting it back down on the tabletop.

"Sir, it is unwise to use lab equipment in such a manner." J.A.R.V.I.S scolded.

"As you can see," Percy motioned to the now cracked glass on the face of the caliper, a result of the arm's strength. "I still have to get a bunch of force readings before doing any full trials, wouldn't want him to snap someone's neck by accident when trying to help."

"But with all the readings you've gotten from my suits, Jarvis _should_ be able to control them soon?"

"Very soon. But if we're still on the same page of making Iron Legion consist of fully robotic suits, we won't be able to rely on your pilot readings."

"Loud and clear." Percy held up her hand next to the arm, silently implying for J.A.R.V.I.S. to give her a high five. The hand just barely touched her skin before stopping, a precaution against causing damage with excess force. Tony scrolled through her Stark tablet, mildly impressed with what he found. "Get a chance to work on those backup generators for me?"

"I would have, but _someone_ in purchasing ordered the wrong DC-DC buck converters." She let out a huff and pulled the offending chips out of the nearby drawer, fingers poised as if she were hexing them. "Honestly, what am I supposed to do with a fixed-ratio chip?"

"I want those as top priority as soon as the new chips come in." One of those rare moments of Boss Tony shined through, which didn't bother her in the slightest. "In the meantime, care to join in the festivities tonight?"

"Is there an actual reason to celebrate? Or is it just 'one of those Thursdays'?"

"Tonight," He gestured around the lab with wide, open arms. "this all goes off the grid."

"The _whole tower_?" He nods slowly, a smug grin on his face. Percy offered a weak smile of regret.

"Sorry Tony, but I scheduled a long weekend."

"Pfft, who approved that?"

"You did sir," J.A.R.V.I.S's voice interjected, Percy looked to the ceiling gratefully. "several weeks ago, in fact."

"Well, that was before it was inconvenient for me. Holiday rejected."

"Sir, over the past year Ms. Evans has not taken any government sanctioned holidays. She is well within her labor permissions to embark on a pre-approved holiday."

"Thank you, Jarvis." Percy said happily, removing her lab coat and hanging it on the wall. She unplugged the arm from the wall and started to clean up the station. Tony was still looking through her manufacturing plans for future robotic limbs that would eventually be implemented.

"I'm heading out now. Jarvis, I won't need you this weekend." She removed her earpiece and switched it to off, leaving it in the desk drawer for when she came back to work on Tuesday.

"Understood, activating privacy protocols." Through the mechanical clicking sound in her head, she reasoned that J.A.R.V.I.S. had removed himself from her optical display. This would be the first time in a few months that she would be spending multiple waking hours without the AI, and frankly she was unsure of how to feel.

"Don't touch any of my stuff while I'm gone." She pointed an accusational finger at Tony, who placed his hands over his ark reactor, feigning shock.

"Actually, it's my stuff. I kinda fully paid for it." He shot back, turning off the tablet and watching Percy leave through the door. "There will be wine by the way- later tonight."

"Is that supposed to convince me?"

"Pepper's coming by." He called after her as she started to walk down the hall, completely out of sight.

"Tell her I said hello!"

* * *

_**Stuttgart, Germany** _

It was very lovely, watching her little sister dance the night away in a white ballgown. She definitely looked every part like a Disney princess, and Klaus' waltz was far better than what she had imagined it to be. Percy had no doubt that Cora had forced her intended to take dancing lessons for their big day- and they definitely paid off.

She raised her wine glass to her lips once more, finishing the beverage with a painful swallow... not being able to shake a feeling of dread. Looking around, she saw all the unfamiliar faces of Klaus' extended family and Cora's close friends and couldn't help but feel like she didn't belong in either realm. This isn't where she wanted to be... not anymore...

She was lonely without J.A.R.V.I.S.

Without saying a word to anyone, Percy slipped from her dining table and out of the venue to take a late night stroll. She didn't know where she was going, after all she had never been to Germany before, but she wasn't meant to be in there.

If Cora noticed she had left the party early Percy knew they would smooth things out over a brunch without consequence, her sister was kind and understanding in that way.

She had been wandering the streets for nearly 20 minutes, the buzz of the champagne was going to her head... it had been a mistake to drink. The rate of which the neurons fired from her right eye was different from her left and with the alcohol her brain could not compensate for the different speeds of input, it was like one half of her saw the world from a normal perspective while the other was in slow mo.

She eyed a nearby fountain and carefully made her way over, concentrating on walking as straight as she possibly could on the cobblestone pavement while trying not to get one of her heels stuck and trip. She sat down on the cold surface, leaning downward and removing the strappy gold heels, rolling her ankles in relief.

Percy placed the shoes next to her and turned to look at her reflection in the rippling surface, the coins at the bottom of the fountain gleaming back. She loved throwing coins into fountains as a child, her wishes never came true of course, but one could hope. A tad ashamed, she looked around for any potential witnesses.

Confirming there was only the odd couple strolling with joined hands a couple blocks away, she reached her hand into the frigid water and plucked a coin between her fingers. Wiping the excess water from her arm, Percy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, thinking so incredibly hard about the wish she wanted most before flipping the coin back into the water with a tiny _plop._

And then there was screaming.

She snapped her head to the source of the sound, watching as men and women alike in formal attire fled down the steps of a nearby museum. Her brain was still acting slow, not processing really what was happening so she decided to start recording, maybe she would make sense of it later.

She picked up her heels with one hand and hitched up the hem of her floor length dress in the other, now that she no longer had the extra height. Her bare feet resisted the feeling of the cold road, keeping her very still. She took a tentative few steps towards the source of the commotion only to stop in her tracks.

Illuminated in the dim streetlights was a man dressed in attire that was eerily familiar. She watched as he raised a staff to an oncoming police car, striking it with a blue force to successfully flip it upside down. He was coming closer, right toward her. Her head was fuzzy, as if it had just been stuffed to the brim with cotton... damn that drink.

She was vaguely aware that people behind her were screaming, other people pushing past her as they ran. But she stood still. He was coming closer, striding with purpose. She saw his lips move, but couldn't hear him over the screams.

He stopped walking, only a few feet to her right but he didn't seem to notice her at all. He slammed the staff down against the ground, a blue light emanating from the stone.

"I said... KNEEL!" He commanded to the crowd of people, and oddly enough... she felt compelled to do so. Along with so many others, she sank to her knees on the ground... but she was the only one to look at him while the rest dared not lift their gaze from the ground.

This man... that voice...

"Is this not simpler? Is this not your natural state? It is the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation." Loki walked into the crowd, his back now turned to her. Percy looked around the perimeter of civilians, watching as his false images flickered like a projection. The one in the middle was real, _he was real._ "The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power... for identity."

_This has to be a prank, or another dream... he **can't** be real._

"You were made to be ruled."

Slowly, she stood up.

"In the end, you will always kneel."

With all the strength she could muster, she launched a shoe straight at the man ... striking him directly on the head. The footwear made an audible _clunk_ as it came into contact with his golden helmet. Loki stumbled for a moment, neck snapping downwards from the force of the assault before turning around to face the attacker.

His face twisted into a devilish grin, clearly uninjured. He glanced between Persephone and the shoe, she was clutching it's twin in her right hand as if she were to throw it next. It was almost amusing, _almost._ But what kind of king would he be to show weakness right off the bat?

" _Gambling with your pitiful life and this is the best weapon you could procure?_ " He made long strides in her direction, pleased when he saw all color drain from her face from what he had wrongly assumed to be fear. " _Truly pathetic_."


End file.
